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Gardeners who follow official advice to install a water butt to conserve water could be increasing the risk of mosquitoes transmitting potentially deadly diseases like malaria and West Nile Virus, a study has found.

Water butts in urban gardens were found to contain many more mosquito larvae than rural gardens.

The researchers found that the “urban heat island” effect, which results in towns being about 1C warmer than the countryside because heat is absorbed and released by buildings, could be contributing to an increase in mosquitoes.

Many people store their water butts close to or even against their homes, bringing